AI generatedn° 768, asia
Siem Reap, cambodia.
For nomads who want a 2-3 month Angkor-adjacent base with the easiest visa in Southeast Asia and accept that the town runs on tourism.
- cost / mo
- $824
- internet
- 50 Mbps
- visa-free · eu
- 30 days
straight answers about Siem Reap
the scores
Four perspectives on city fit.
Open any score for a plain-language view of the city's strengths and tradeoffs.
your monthly budget
default $700–$4,500 range · drag to personalize
score priority
balanced across the factors that matter
Scores adapt to your selected budget and priority. Each ring is clickable for a plain-language breakdown of the city's strengths and tradeoffs.
monthly cost · solo nomad
Tier 3 · estimate (no verified rent yet)Rent · central 1 BR | $495 |
Food · groceries + modest dining | $130 |
Mobile · 20 GB plan | $8 |
Utilities · electricity + heat + water | $50 |
Transit · monthly pass regional avg fallback | $18 |
Coworking · 4 days/month baseline | $48 |
Buffer · 10% for variance + occasional weekend trips | $75 |
Total solo burn | $824 |
Tier 1 = all components verified for this city/country; Tier 2 = rent verified + country-baseline components; Tier 3 = approximate. Solo nomad baseline assumes one person, central 1-bedroom, modest groceries, 20 GB mobile, 4 paid coworking days/month. Where the rent basis above notes a private-market premium, expat condo budgets run higher than this baseline.
in one sentence · curated
ExpatWhy editorial.
Siem Reap is the small town that sits next to the largest religious monument on Earth, a hyper-touristed Cambodian provincial capital where the visa is the simplest in Southeast Asia and almost nothing else is.
editorial
The case & the friction.
The case is the access to Angkor and the price. The temple complex (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei) is a 6 km bicycle ride from the town center, and a $72 7-day pass gives genuine multi-day exploration. A furnished apartment or small villa in Wat Bo, Sala Kamreuk or Sok San Road runs $300-$550 monthly. Coworking is small (around 15 spaces in OSM), AngkorHUB, 1961, with the cafe network in Kandal Village absorbing most demand. Cambodia's visa is unusually easy: 30-day tourist e-Visa, the Ordinary Visa (Type E) extendable in-country for 1-6-12 months and convertible to an EB business visa with minimal scrutiny, a long-standing grey route Cambodia tolerates.
The friction is infrastructure thinness. Internet runs 30-80 Mbps in most rentals (fiber rollouts uneven outside core hotels), power cuts during the April-May hot season are common, and the road outside the inner ring is dust or mud depending on month. The town's economy is roughly 80% tourism; service quality is high in the tourist core, thin beyond. Khmer Riel and US dollars run in parallel, ATMs charge $4-6 per withdrawal. Healthcare is genuinely limited, Royal Angkor International is the only credible option, and Bangkok evacuation for serious cases is standard.
Air is mostly clean (PM2.5 ~15-20 µg/m³ annual) with March-April dry-season burning peaks. No quake or typhoon exposure. Female safety pipeline-rated 5/10; long-stay female nomads report Siem Reap quiet but limited.
verdict
For nomads who want a 2-3 month Angkor-adjacent base with the easiest visa in Southeast Asia and accept that the town runs on tourism.
work & connectivity
Getting work done.
work-friendly density · OSM
Strong for laptop work.
coworking spaces
0
wifi cafés
47
In practice: Workable but thin, 0 coworking spaces and 47 wifi cafés. A hotel-with-desk or one good coworking membership covers most days.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0
tax & stay reality · Cambodia
Tax resident from 182 days (the counting period varies by country, verify locally).
residency trigger
182
days, period varies
top marginal rate
20%
on highest bracket
scope
Worldwide
Worldwide income taxed
expat / nomad regime
No dedicated nomad regime; standard worldwide-income taxation if resident.
tax treaty with
Cambodia taxes residents on worldwide income at progressive rates up to 20%. Very limited treaty network, Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, France are primary partners. Easy long-stay via business visa renewals doesn't itself confer tax residency.
Sources: country tax authority + Wikipedia "Taxation in Cambodia" (CC-BY-SA) · last reviewed 2026-05-22.
Verifywhen to visit
Twelve months of weather.
best month
Jan
Visit in January, 26°C, only 2mm of rain.
Off-season July–August, monsoon brings 323mm/month, and hotel rates typically drop 20–40% from peak.
temperaturerainfallcurrent monthbest month
air quality · 12 months verified
When the air turns.
Hourly PM2.5 averaged by calendar month from modelled atmospheric data, window 2025-07-08 → 2026-07-07. WHO annual guideline is 5 µg/m³.
annual mean
13.3µg/m³
Good
worst month
Apr · 28 µg/m³
Unhealthy (sens.)
cleanest month
Sep · 7 µg/m³
Good
annual swing
22 µg/m³
Highly seasonal
Cleanest air in September (7 µg/m³); worst in April (28 µg/m³).
Annual mean 13.3 µg/m³ is moderate, sensitive groups (asthma, kids, elderly) should time longer stays to the cleaner half of the year. The 22 µg/m³ swing between worst and best month is large, month-of-travel matters more here than in stable cities.
Modelled, not measured at a station: near coasts atmospheric models can count sea salt as PM2.5 and read high against ground networks. Read the curve, not the absolute.
natural risk
The numbers other sites don't show.
seismic risk · 50 yr · 200 km
No M5+ ever recorded nearby.
M5+ events
0
M6+ events
0
largest
–
In practice: No M5+ quakes recorded within 200 km in 50 years, earthquake-bag and insurance aren't decisions you need to make for this city.
tropical storms · 46 yr · 200 km
Low cyclone exposure.
named storms
21
cat 1+ hurricanes
0
In practice: 21 named storms tracked in 46 years, but only 0 reached hurricane strength, light exposure, mostly a planning footnote for beach trips.
–Siem Reap is the small town that sits next to the largest religious monument on Earth, a hyper-touristed Cambodian provincial capital where the visa is the simplest in Southeast Asia and almost nothing else is.
quality of life
Sun for more than three thousand hours a year, almost no grey winter.
3,550
hours
Modelled 12-month sum
country-level rights indicator
country-level safety indicator
12-month modelled average
derived from monthly rainfall
vs Berlin 09–17 · Asia/Phnom Penh
–For nomads who want a 2-3 month Angkor-adjacent base with the easiest visa in Southeast Asia and accept that the town runs on tourism.
ExpatWhy editorial
what to know
Pros & cons.
pros
- Budget-friendly for solo nomads
cons
- Slow average internet speeds
- Safety concerns, research neighborhoods
- Short visa-free stay (<60 days for EU)
visa & stay
How long can you stay?
- digital nomad visa
- No, not yet
- visa-free for EU passport
- 30 days
- visa-free for US passport
- 30 days
visa figures as of August 2026 · verify with official immigration sources before traveling
before you go
What to plan around.
Drawn only from the verified figures on this page, the things worth knowing before you book.
US passport: short visa-free window, 30 days
US passports get 30 visa-free days. For a longer stay, plan an extension or a border run before day 30.
EU passport: short visa-free window, 30 days
EU passports get 30 visa-free days. For a longer stay, plan an extension or a border run before day 30.
Pronounced wet season
Rain peaks around Jul, Sep & Oct, up to 323 mm in the wettest month. Time a visit for the drier half of the year.
Tropical storm exposure
21 tropical storms passed within 200 km over 46 years. Avoid peak storm season and check that travel insurance covers weather disruption.
Cost is a modelled estimate
Living costs here are a purchasing-power estimate, not locally verified prices. Treat the total as a starting point and add a buffer.
compare side-by-side
Siem Reap versus three popular alternatives.
you might also like
Where to go next.
Closer on the map, closer on the wallet, or closer on the way it feels.
closest on the map
Other cities in Southeast Asia.
Same sub-region, short flights, similar climate, comparable visa landscape.
asia
7.6Koh Chang, thailand.
A budget asia option with a nomad-visa pathway.
asia
7.5Koh Kood, thailand.
A budget asia option with a nomad-visa pathway.
asia
5.8Phnom Penh, cambodia.
A budget asia option with limited visa-free access.
closest on the wallet
Other budget cities, different continent.
Same band as Siem Reap, budget (under $1,500/mo), outside asia.
latin america
7.2La Fortuna, costa rica.
A budget latin america option with a nomad-visa pathway.
latin america
7.2Monteverde, costa rica.
A budget latin america option with a nomad-visa pathway.
europe
7.2Ohrid, north macedonia.
A budget europe option with workable visa-free EU access.
closest on the way it feels
Same wellbeing, different climate.
Cities that score like Siem Reap on quality-of-life but trade tropical for something else.
middle east
7.7Doha, qatar.
A mid-tier middle east option with limited visa-free access.
middle east
7.5Ras Al Khaimah, united arab emirates.
A mid-tier middle east option with a nomad-visa pathway.
north america
7.0Cleveland, united states.
A mid-tier north america option with workable visa-free EU access.
where Siem Reap ranks
Siem Reap also makes these lists.
The cheapest cities for digital nomads
solo nomads live for ~$824/mo here
Seismically safest cities for long-term moves
no M5+ earthquakes within 200 km in 50 years
The sunniest cities for digital nomads
3,550 sun hours / year
Cities with zero or very low personal income tax
top marginal personal income tax: 20%
Cities with dedicated nomad / expat tax regimes
No dedicated nomad regime; standard worldwide-income taxation if resident.
frequently asked
Siem Reap, honest answers.
- How much does it cost to live in Siem Reap per month?
- A solo nomad in Siem Reap runs roughly $824/month, broken down as rent $495 (estimate), food $130, mobile $8, utilities $50, transit $18, plus coworking and a 10% buffer. That puts it in the budget tier globally.
- What is the tax situation for nomads in Cambodia?
- Tax residency triggers at 182 days (the counting period varies by country, verify locally). Residents are taxed on worldwide income. Top marginal personal income tax is 20%. No dedicated nomad regime; standard worldwide-income taxation if resident. Verify current details at the country's tax authority, link on the city's Tax & Stay card.
- What visa do I need to live in Siem Reap?
- EU passports get 30 days visa-free; US passports get 30 days. Longer stays require a residence permit or remote-worker visa, verify at the country's official immigration site.
- How is the air quality in Siem Reap?
- Annual PM2.5 averages 13 µg/m³, which above WHO target but moderate. The 12-month curve on this page shows the seasonal swing, many cities have a sharp burning season or winter inversion that doesn't show in the annual number.
- Is Siem Reap safe for solo female travelers?
- Cambodia scores 5.0/10 on the women's-safety indicator, moderate, read recent reports for specific neighborhoods. Country-level scores; major cities often differ from country averages, especially by neighborhood.
- When is the best time to visit Siem Reap?
- Jan typically scores best on our combined comfort index, average temperature 26°C, low rainfall, high sunshine. Each city's Climate Chart on this page shows the full 12-month picture.
- Are there earthquakes in Siem Reap?
- No M5+ earthquakes have been recorded within 200 km of Siem Reap in the last 50 years. Seismically clean, one of the safest cities on this metric.
where it is
Siem Reap on the map.
Siem Reap, Cambodia, Asia.
13.3633, 103.8564
Map tiles & data © OpenStreetMap contributors.